Caroll-Ann Alie

Caroll-Ann Alie

Caroll-Ann Alie, windsurfer, nutritionist, kinesiologist (b at Gracefield, Que 6 Jul 1960). Caroll-Ann's Olympic dream took hold when she was eight years old, when she marvelled at skier Nancy GREENE's gold medal victory at the Grenoble Olympics in 1968. At that time, the young athlete was a member of the Outaouais downhill ski team at Club Mont-Sainte-Marie. However, with the passage of time, she realized that she did not possess the necessary qualities to reach the top levels in this sport.

In 1978, intrigued by the new sport then known as sailboarding, Caroll-Ann Alie decided to try the experience, which, after several attempts, proved decisive. Two years later, she achieved sixth place in the Canadian championships in Magog, Québec. She was motivated to pursue this route and from then on devoted all her time and energy to windsurfing practice. In 1983, during her first year on the national team, she took the world championship title - an achievement she repeated twice, in 1985 and 1988.

In 1984, Alie just missed qualifying for the Los Angeles Olympics in the mixed competition. From this time on, she was actively involved in advocating women's windsurfing as an Olympic sport.

Caroll-Ann was granted leave to complete a master's degree in physical activity at the University of Michigan in the late 1980s. Then, motivated by her Olympic dream, since women's windsurfing would be offered for the first time at Barcelona in 1992, she resumed her training. At these Olympic Games, the 32-year-old athlete and victim of food poisoning achieved 14th place. She then pursued her career with the support of her coach and husband, Steve Rosenberg.

Three years later, in 1995, Caroll-Ann won gold at the PAN AMERICAN GAMES at Mar del Plata in Argentina. The following year, at the Atlanta Olympics, she ranked 12th. In 1999, she won two silver medals in the Olympic regatta class in Miami and at Long Beach, and that same year she came second in the Winnipeg Pan American Games.

In 2000, at the age of 40, she ranked 17th at the world championships in Mar del Plata, Argentina. A few months later in Sydney, after her third Olympics where she again ranked 17th, she decided to retire from competition.

In 1988 and 1995, Caroll-Ann Alie's perseverance and success were highlighted when she was named Female Athlete of the Year by the Canadian Yachting Association. She entered the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1993. She joined the ranks of the elite in the Ottawa Sports Hall of Fame in 2005, and five years later, was inducted into the QUÉBEC SPORTS HALL OF FAME (Le Panthéon des sports du Québec).